The long runs training for the Oklahoma City Marathon have been getting loooongerer, 19 miles this week, 21 miles next week, then 23, etc . . . you guys have been there, you know the drill. So, last Saturday the Martini Twins© had 19-miles to run. And what a better way to run 19-miles than sandwich a half-marathon between two 3-mile runs. Saying it that way sounds like three much shorter runs – and anytime you sandwich something it just makes it funny, I’m a 13-year-old boy like that.
Months ago Michelle and I registered for the Fort Worth Cowtown Half Marathon and we worked it into our training schedule. Since we’ve started this marathon training we’ve ate, hydrated and rested like we are training for a marathon. With special emphasis on hydrated – my pee has been a lovely shade of clear for weeks. We have been the picture perfect epitome of training.
Friday night we were in bed by 9 PM. We woke at 4:45 AM, drank some coffee, ate some our chia infested oatmeal, dressed and were on the road. We arrived at the interstate off ramp in downtown Fort Worth at 6:25 AM – over an hour early for the half. We stayed on that off ramp not moving for nearly three hours. And I have no clue why – we were so early. Runners were abandoning their cars on the off-ramp bridge and running to the start line. Really. My Candy Car was not getting left on a ramp, so we entertained ourselves the best we could; face-booked our ridiculous status, we car danced, took pictures and made videos for as long as two girls trapped in a car for 3 hours and hydrated to run 19-miles could. For your car-dancing pleasure:
Cowtown Traffic from Runner Susan on Vimeo.
By the time we actually parked the car and got to the start line, the half course was being taken down. Bye, bye sandwiched half marathon.
Car-fatigued, frustrated and hungry, since it was almost lunch time at this point, we decided to make the best of the situation – we needed to run, it was a gorgeous day and we were right next to the Trinity Trail – a beautiful place to run along the river. We knew we couldn’t do the distance with the water or fuel we had on hand, so our plan was to run as far as we could and enjoy the beautiful day. See, here we are enjoying the beautiful day in our hot pink and hot peach matchy, matchy outfits:
For about 4 miles there wasn’t a soul in sight and then our trail merged into another trail and we saw runners. Lots of runners. So many runners we thought we might be dreaming. Runners with bibs and chips. We got closer and noticed ULTRA on the bib. ULTRA? I didn’t know they were running an Ultra-marathon as an event for Cowtown. Oh well, we decided to follow the Ultra course for a bit and head back to the car, and at this point if we could get ten miles run, we’d be good.
We chug along, and then before we knew it these hippy-looking, water-vested and often barefooted ultra distance runners were giving our cute, neon-dressed selves a “great job, girls” and thumbs up all over the place. I look down and we still have our timing chips on. These insanely happy ultra runners think we are a part of the ultra-marathon. I turn to Michelle and say “let’s just finish the Ultra”. We had a brief discussion about whether these runners are insanely happy or just insane. We had no clue at that point how long it would be to the finish, but decided we didn’t care, we liked the happy runners and we kept going.
So it wasn’t really “our” mile 29, but we were having 29 miles of fun.
We weren’t expecting to get coronated with medals and t-shirts as we crossed the finish line, but then again, we never received our half shirts or medals. By the time we finished the entire day was just comical. We ended up running at least 14 miles and Gallowaying another 4-5 miles. A perfectly unexpected day of training.
We topped off our weekend by doing out best to dehydrate ourselves with good wine and stuff ourselves silly with shopping and good food. One of the best girl weekends I’ve ever had. Who other than the Martini Twins could miss a half-marathon, crash an ultra-marathon and finish with a marathon medal?
[miniflickr user=”19202613@N00″ tags=”Cowtown”]
I only we hope we can have that much fun at our real marathon! Thank you for an amazing weekend of FUN!!!
ok let me get this straight you were registered, had your bibs and chips and seriously did not make it to the start in time? whaaaaaaaaat? thats just crazy-ness!!
and at least now i dont feel like a wimp because i thought you REALLY did do freaking 30 miles on Saturday :o)
GREAT JOB AND OH SO FUNNY!!!
What a fantastic race report! Running an ultra sounds like much more fun than the half you had planned – it sounds fabulous! Plus a medal! Well done girls.
.-= Petra´s last blog ..Sick! =-.
That is indeed one crazy race report. Weird you don’t have radio traffic reports to explain the backup (unless you instead were hoping Lady GaGa would more importantly provide the meaning of life) but at some point it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. So does this count as your first unofficial ultra?!
.-= Anne´s last blog ..Make Your Intentions Known =-.
I had a friend who was signed up to do the Ultra, left her hotel…6 MILES AWAY..an hour early, and still didn’t get to the START line until 9:30! Obviously, she missed the start and couldn’t race! She was devestated! I would be too! THAT SUCKS!! And you would think that as the traffic gets worse and worse EVERY year they would plan better! I wanted to do that Ultra next year…NO WAY NOW!
Tammy, I have a feeling The Cowtown Organizers are going to be getting a lot of emails about this!
Rock it, Susan. You rule. 🙂
.-= Annalisa´s last blog ..A year of magical thinking =-.
awesome. 🙂
I started running ultras a few years ago and haven’t looked back. Most ultrarunners aren’t worried about speed. It’s all about enjoying the day and finishing the run in good spirits. It’s a laid back scene, good vibes. You should come give us a try this summer. El Scorcho (http://www.elscorchorun.com) beckons….
.-= Ryan V.´s last blog ..What’s on Your Nightstand? (or what I’m reading these days) =-.
That you two didn’t stress out all sideways on the exit ramp about not making the start line was a good sign that the rest of the day could be salvaged. And salvaged it was in an incredible way. You got the miles in, a medal, no times, companionship, a skinny dip, lots of wine, food and an ATM handful of shopping done.
A max runner girl day.
.-= David´s last blog ..Thomas expects little and exceeds expectations to the point of a personal record run. =-.
Congrats whitt your Ultra run and a good time(3 houre) ;-).
Nice pics and a lot of fun in the car…
Next time you run the half or marathon.
Rinus.
that’s insane! the start, not the fun.
did you ever find out why there was blockage? cars, not poop.
the other runners leaving their cars wouldn’t have helped. abandoned cars only run in horror movies.
Michelle’s sporting some awesome sunburn, so you must have run at least 15 miles! You’ve had a fun weekend and seen how crazy ultra runners are (yes, they are crazy!), so what more could you want? Lady Gaga on the radio was perfect.
.-= Ewe the Dewd´s last blog ..Long runs are possible =-.
If this ever happens to me, I want to be with you. You and Michelle looked like you were having so much fun. The video had me rolling with laughter.
.-= Juls´s last blog ..down the road =-.
Best damn race report I’ve read in awhile…LOVE IT
.-= Aka Alice´s last blog ..Noah was smart enough to use an ark =-.
That was great! Certainly the right way to handle the situation. If you were in the same line I was in on the way to Fourth Street, I moved far left and ended up on 8th and Jones, parked and was at the start line at 6:45 am. Glad I took the chance.